CPM says it's not averse to joining hands with Congress to take on BJP, Trinamool in West Bengal

Kolkata: The CPM on Thursday said it was not averse to joining hands with the Congress and other secular forces to forge a broad-based unity in combating the attack on democracy and secularism in West Bengal.

Communist Party of India-Marxist state secretary Surjya Kanta Mishra said a joint struggle was needed to fight the poison of communalism being spread by the Bharatiya Janata Party and the autocratic attitude of the Trinamool government in the state.

"We Leftists, the parties within the Left Front, and those Left forces outside the Left Front, can take the responsibility of leading the struggle against the attack on life and livelihood in the state and the anti-people economic policies of the BJP government at the centre and the Trinamool regime in the state," Mishra said.

Representational image. Reuters

"But in the specific situation that is emerging in West Bengal, we need a broader unity of political forces by including the Congress and other democratic and secular parties to fight the attack on democracy and secularism in the state," Mishra told media persons after a two-day CPM state committee meeting.

However, he said the call was not for any electoral alliance or understanding. "That we will decide at the time of elections. Here we are giving a call for a joint struggle," he added.

Mishra said the Trinamool could not be a part of the unity visualised by his party. "Because the existence and the policies of the Trinamool government in the state has helped the BJP's rise. We ran the government in the state for 34 years; during that time the BJP could not raise its head," he said.

"Had there been no Trinamool, the BJP would not have gained in strength in the state. To fight the BJP's divisive policies, one has to combat the Trinamool's autocratic rue. Similarly, it is not possible to take on the autocratic rule of the Trinamool by shutting one's eyes to the BJP's divisive policies," he said.

Mishra said his party's call for roping in the Congress for a joint struggle in the state does not militate against the CPM central committee's stand of not getting into any electoral understanding with the country's oldest political party.

The CPM-led Left Front and the Congress had forged an electoral understanding in the state for last year's Assembly polls, but the alliance came a cropper.

"We are not talking of any electoral alliance. But we welcome all secular forces including the Congress who want a joint struggle. Let them build a platform, we will be there. Things like who will provide the leadership is not important, considering the crisis in the state," Mishra said.

He said an effort was on to convert communal polarisaiton into political polarisation in the state. "Efforts are on to create a perception that the BJP, and not the Leftists, can provide an alternative to Bengal's dictatorial regime. The BJP is playing Ram, while the Trinamool is playing Hanuman. This is a dangerous game," he said.

He said the CPM state committee has instructed the entire party to go all out in making the March to Nabanna (state secretariat) call given by the Leftist peasant organisations on 22 May a success.

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